The only thing Jason Pierre-Paul knows about his back right now is that it’s not 100 percent.

The explosive defensive end, whose sack numbers dwindled last year as the pain began to increase, has no timetable for his return.

He could not guarantee he’d be on the field for the team’s opener, or if he’ll take snaps in preseason.

When asked to provide an assessment of his current situation, Pierre-Paul estimated he’s at about 75 percent. He is optimistic now that the lingering pain has subsided.

"The whole discomfort is gone. When I sit down, I don’t have that pain anymore. When I am standing up, I don’t have that pain. I can stand up straight. Basically, everything is gone. That’s a good thing. I am doing pretty good."

So it goes for Pierre-Paul, who said the pain in his back developed two years ago. He felt pain every time he got down in his stance. X-rays determined that he has weakness in his knee as a side effect from the back issues.

"It took a while to figure it out," Pierre-Paul said. "At the end of the day, it was pain. As a defensive lineman, when you get in your stance, that hurts. You know what I mean? For the pain I had, that hurts. I didn’t complain, I just dealt with it and played."

The Giants defense has been pushing to return back to their 2011 form when their vaunted pass rush delivered them a Super Bowl title. Without Pierre-Paul in the fold it would be difficult — but general manager Jerry Reese doesn’t see it as impossible.

"We think he can be a terrific player like he’s been in the past and we expect that from him," Reese said. "But it’s not only one, it’s not a one-man team. We expect all of our defensive players to step up. Our defense has to get off the field."

Pierre-Paul is shouldering all of the responsibility surrounding his return at this point. He is quick not to blame the pain for his drop in numbers, only quick to say that it is almost behind him.

After taking what he guessed was three shots to get rid of the soreness, he is looking forward to a time when that won’t be necessary.

He just doesn’t know when that time will be yet.

"It’s all on me," Pierre-Paul said. "How I rehab. I am trying to get my core right, stronger, my back stronger. It’s all on me. You don’t want to go out there too early. You don’t want to go out there too late. You want to be just enough so you can play the game."

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Some other small notes that we'll expand on later after practice: David Wilson is still interested in returning kicks, wants to do it again this year...Justin Tuck said the Giant got way to caught up in sack numbers last year...Aaron Curry said that he didn't learn anything from having his starting job handed to him as a rookie and that the competition will make him better...and new fullback (Rutgers grad) Ryan D'Imperio said he's comfortable at the position after switching over from linebacker.